Face the music.

So we’ll start here.

There was a time when my son was an infant that my mother pointed out to me that he was a “side looker.” I thought to myself it was impossible that he was autistic.

And then he didn’t babble.

But he started saying words at one year. So… no way.

Then he lost those words. And his balance didn’t improve through his second year. Repeated “EIEIO” over and over again. Hand coordination worsened. Started shaking his head for no clear reason. Became obsessed with letters. Continued avoiding eye contact. Never asked for drinks or food. Tantrumed for hours. Neglected to point out things of interest. Had a partial seizure. Started early intervention…

Long story short, he received a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder this past Wednesday at a world-renowned children’s hospital. There’s so much to tell… but where to start?

So we’ll start here. Hello, I’m an Autism Mommy. Welcome to my blog.

I’m Erin. I’m a 20-something Mom of two little ones– a two-year-old son newly-diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and a baby girl who is too young to make any guesses. I work a little bit from home for an environmental nonprofit, and I am a freelance journalist. I love cooking, singing, and autumn weather. And I’m married to a brilliant, involved Daddy.

My son is an auburn-haired smartypants who loves trucks and jazz. He taught himself the alphabet at 20 months. He has a beautiful social smile, but he finds eye contact aversive.

He is the reason I am writing this blog… because there is a huge lack in legislation, funding, insurance coverage, and understanding in regard to autism spectrum disorders. And it’s time to change that for all people on the spectrum. This will be my place to advocate, tell the tale of our journey, and possibly share a few tears (and laughs) along the way. To a certain extent, our family life is a rhapsody in autism, and we have embraced it.

Share this:

Like this:

Related

About rhapsodyinautism

I'm a Mom of two little ones-- a two-year-old son newly diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and a baby girl who is too young to make any guesses. I work a little bit from home for an environmental nonprofit, and I am a freelance journalist. I love cooking, singing, and autumn weather. And I'm married to a brilliant, involved Daddy.
My son is an auburn-haired smartypants who loves trucks and jazz. He taught himself the alphabet at 20 months. He has a beautiful social smile, but he finds eye contact aversive.
He is the reason I am writing this blog... because there is a huge lack in legislation, funding, insurance coverage, and understanding in regards to autism spectrum disorders. This will be my place to advocate, tell the tale of our journey, and hopefully share a few tears and laughs along the way. This is our family life, and we have embraced it.

Post navigation

I’m not quite sure what you’re referring to when you mention a lack of awareness, funding, or legislation. Autism is one of the most widely advertised research charities (with poor efficiency), and funding? How many mandates are there? Name me a state that doesn’t require an insurance company that doesnt REQUIRE it’s members to pay for an Autism rider offering 36K in additional benefits (on top of what’s already included), as long as a patient is diagnose with ASD.

Wow, I am not sure what world you are from, but you are not from earth! My husband has to turn down a job offer in a state where there is no insurance mandate to cover autism– you can get more information on the mandates at autismvotes.org. In addition, despite mandates, insurance does not cover many effective therapies because they are not proven cures for autism. Well with that logic, there is no proven cure so I guess we should not cover anything? I approved your first comment so I could make the point that you are uneducated, whoever you are anonymous person, but I will not tolerate such spiteful ignorance again.

I’m really glad to see that you decided to start blogging again – I enjoyed your first blog so much! I can only imagine what you are going through, but it sounds like you guys are doing all of the right things and then some. Those two munchkins are lucky to have you guys! Looking forward to reading and learning more from you as you tell us all about your journey.

Wow, to that first commentor! I would also like to know just what planet that person is coming from. My son was just diagnosed last year and there are hardly any resources for children on the spectrum in my state of Oklahoma. I will admit awareness is increasing, but there is still a long way to go.

I just wanted to tell you, Erin, that I really enjoy reading your blog and can relate to a lot of your feelings on the matter. It is definitely a one-day-at-a-time kind of situation and you seem to have a really great outlook on it. Just remember you are not alone and there are many of us out there living similar lives.

Sincerely,

Shelley

p.s. My husband and i have just started blogging about our experiences in the autism community. if you are interested in checking out our blog, we are at unlockingdoors.wordpress.com